


Long Day Ahead

by galaxyostars



Category: Zombies Run!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-16
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-05-01 21:42:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5221973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxyostars/pseuds/galaxyostars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life for Nora changes rather dramatically when her supply copter is shot down with a rocket launcher.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Long Day Ahead

There was something not quite right about this trip. She couldn't put her finger onto why, though, and it wasn't as if anyone else had bothered to say anything about it. It made sense, Nora mused. This day and age, many just tried to keep things civil – if that meant people had to keep their mouths shut, then so be it.

“Able Township is just up on the horizon. Do you see it? Not much more than a few fences to keep the zoms out. I don't know how they live like that. Guess they won't be living like that much longer.”

Nora looked up through the helicopter's window at the sound of the pilot's British accent. Oh, who was she kidding. They were all practically British. As an Australian, she couldn't complain – after a while, the accents weren't too different (she'd never be caught saying that lest someone lecture her about how wrong she was). But Able Township wasn't actually looking too bad. 'A few fences' seemed to be an understatement – there was at least one guard tower, and from this distance, those fences looked pretty stable.

“Looks stable enough,” Nora laughed once. “Better than a few I've seen before.”

Apparently that was the end of the conversation.

“Able Township, Jolly Alpha Five Niner from Mullin's military base, we're five miles out from the East. We're bringing medical supplies, shelter, and loan of one of our people. Able Township, Jolly Alpha Five Nine, requesting permission to land.”

Nora blinked a few times. 'Loan of one of our people'. Why yes, of course. This so-called 'secret mission' everyone seems to be tattering on about.

It wasn't too long before a radio operator responded. “ _Got that, er . . . uh, I mean, roger that. You're clear to . . . yeah. You can- you can come in._ ”

“Roger, Able. Heading down now.” There was a few moments of silence before the pilot addressed Nora again. “Level with me. You and me both know we haven't got half of the usual supplies. We've lied to the township!”

Nora sighed. “What do you want me to say? Its how much I was told to load onto the chopper.”

“Yeah, I know.” The pilot groaned. “You don't know anything. Someone in Able is going to come up to you and say 'I'm hear to brief you on project 'Green Shoot'', and then you'll find out what the mission really is. I just- What the- Someone's shooting!”

The gunshots were evidence enough, but Nora found herself peering back through the chopper's window. “From Able?”

“That's not from the Township!”

“I see a pack of the walkers far north of Township-” She was interrupted when the sound of a projectile shot up behind them. Both Nora and her pilot found themselves scanning the area around the helicopter.

“Who the hell has a rocket launcher-!”

An explosion directly behind her blew out Nora's ears, the helicopter leaping forward in a fit of protest. The tail of the aircraft was gone, the only evidence of it's prior existence now being the gigantic hole it left in its wake.

“We're hit – I've lost the tail roter.”

That much was a bit obvious, though Nora bit back a sarcastic comment, knuckles now white as she held herself in her place. This is why she hated flying – it wasn't the height, it was the potential of falling. Loose strands of her hair came loose, flapping around her face as the aircraft plummeted.

“Mayday-mayday-mayday, Jolly Alpha Five Niner going down, three miles east of Able Township, two souls onboard.” She didn't know if it was a call for help or just a report back to base that they'd lost two people. Highly doubtful they'd come looking for them – though Nora scolded herself for that kind of thinking at this moment. But how could she not!? Here she was, now looking at dying because some bastard fired a rocket launcher at her helicopter in the middle of a bloody zombie apocalypse! Her fear of falling may well be justified if she doesn't make it out of this.

The radio operator from earlier seemed more concerned about their wellbeing than the actual pilot of the helicopter (she chalked that up to the woman's military training). “ _This is Able Township calling – supply copter, can you hear us? You're coming down fast. Can any of you hear us!? Open your chutes!_ ”

The operator was more or less ignored. “Jump – I'm going to try and put her down safely.”

Despite already unbuckling herself from her seat, Nora saw a chance to protest. “Are you insane?!”

“Maybe. Better one of us dead than both of us. Jump. Now!”

This was exactly why Nora hated flying. 

* * *

 

The aircraft hit the ground before Nora did, a shock wave from the explosion causing her to rock, therefore making her cling to the edges of her parachute. Dear lords she hated falling. And now all she had to do was hit the ground without causing injury (or, quite possibly, further injury). The late twenty-something's legs caught the ground, but before she could land as if she were a professional, they gave out, causing a more embarrassing face-plant into the ground below her. She laid there for at least a minute, adoring the ground despite it's death-like qualities when seen from high above, getting a good breath of that dirt smell.

“ _Hey- HEY! This is Able Township calling. Over?_ ”

Nora pushed herself up from the ground, looking down at the harness she might just thank for saving her life, before realizing that her earpiece was still in. Her balance was temporarily shot, but once she managed to get a good idea of her bearings, she set to unclasping herself from the harness. “This is-”

The operator gave a huff of- was that annoyance? “ _Urgh, they're not answering!_ ”

And in that moment, she remembered. Her ear piece was not equipped with a microphone- even if it had been, it was highly likely it'd perished when faced with something as loud as a small missile hitting the back of her helicopter. That'd make the conversation with this operator interesting. Well, maybe less interesting, and more “highly one-sided”.

“ _Listen, if you're alive - if there's anyone alive down there - this is Sam Yao from Able Township!_ ” The transmission was thick with fear – the operator had no idea if she was alive, if anyone from the helicopter was alive. He was freaking out. “ _I-I'm just a radio operator! I'm not supposed to handle this stuff!_ ”

Nora found herself leaning up against a tree trunk, now noticing just how heavy her breathing actually was. Shock. She didn't know enough about biology or psychology or anything really useful to know if she was in it or coming down from something like it. But her entire body ached – her lungs ached, her sides stiff from having been clenched for so long. Her head lent forward, strands of her auburn hair falling over her eyes again.

“ _You've come down in a horde of zombies – they've heard the noise, they're coming. There's thirty- no, wait, forty- no- crap. Look, if you're alive, your only safe path is towards the tower – you should be able to see it from where you are._ ”

She looked up again, seeking a tower on the horizon. This was a chance to leave Mullin's – let them believe her dead. Be done with military protocol. The woman had had to completely turn around before she finally spotted it – the tower she'd seen earlier whilst in the helicopter. _Hope those fences aren't as useful as you thought, dear pilot._ Funny (or ironic, really) how the fences the pilot had criticized earlier would end up being Nora's new chance for survival. She could probably last a little while out here, a few days maybe, if she was lucky and found supplies, but the likelihood of returning to home or finding a completely new group of people to settle with were extraordinarily low.

As if on cue, the zombie hoard Yao had mentioned could now be heard, shuffling up behind her.

She'd have to follow his advice today.

“ _If there's anyone alive down there, just run!_ ”

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure if this is worth pursuing, but we'll see how we go.


End file.
